Vintage and Classic Menswear

Suiting Up: Hemming Your Dang Pants

Here’s a short little post on something super important to do after buying a suit. Nothing is ever good “simply off the rack”. No matter if you got it at Goodwill, H&M, or a high end store, a suit will always need tailoring. Why? Because you’re not a mannequin, you’re you. You have a unique body type, so something that was mass produced will not automatically look good. For this post, we’re going to focus on the length of your pants.

Before Hemming: Sloppy

Suit Trousers from Zara

This is what suit pants (or most pants) will look like when you buy them straight out of the store. It’s already a slim fit, so you don’t need to taper them, but that’s not what’s wrong: these pants are too dang long! Because these pants are long, you can see it pool and ripple around his ankles. Doesn’t matter if its a cheap or expensive suit or if everything else fits, long pants will make you look sloppy and gross.

Not good from behind either. Loop at those ripples.

Save these ripples for a nice pair of jeans. But since these are made of a softer material (i.e not denim), these should drape on your leg and make your legs look flat and smooth. Fortunately this is an extremely cheap fix from your local tailor or dry-cleaners.

After Hemming: Perfect

Look at it now! Jon has confidence and his legs look fantastic. He looks skinnier and classy; no more pooling around the ankles. His pants are smooth and sleek; if you’re a bit bigger, doing this for your pants will do wonders to how others perceive you. It’s a visual trick: you will definitely look slimmer.

This look is reminiscent of pinrolling your pants, but since these trousers are made of a finer material, you don’t need to roll them. Just get them hemmed by a tailor!

You don’t need to carefully measure out inches for this; just tell your tailor or alterationist that you want no break pants and you want it to end right at your ankle bone. Having no break pants in general will ensure that you can wear them year round. It also shows more of your sock, so get on that sock game! If socks aren’t your thing, it also looks great sockless, like how Jon has them! No more pooling please!

So as you can see, hemming your pants will transform your pants into a flattering, diverse piece of clothing. You’ll look slim, modern, and it’ll give you confidence for your look! Use them for your suits, your semi-formal attire, or even just with a super casual look! Doing this is a great investment and it’s super cheap; my local tailor does it for $7! You could even learn to do this yourself!